My thoughts on the Phillies season.

Spring Training: Three home runs help to do in the Phils in their last spring training home game in Clearwater, as they lose to the Blue Jays, 8-5.

The Phils lose their last spring training home game in Florida as they drop one to the Blue Jays, 8-5.

The Blue Jays took the lead in the second as Edwin Encarnacion hits a lead-off home run, his fourth home run of the spring, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead. The Blue Jays then took a 2-0 lead two batters later as, with a runner on second, and with still nobody out, Brett Lawrie hits an RBI single, knocking in Eric Thames, who had earlier doubled. The Blue Jays added to their lead in the third as, with two men on, and with two men out, Thames hits an RBI single, scoring Yunel Escobar, who had earlier walked, then reached second base on Placido Polanco’s fielding error of Encarnacio’s grounder, giving the Blue Jays a 3-0 lead, while sending Encarnacion, who was earlier safe at first on Polanco’s error, up to second base. The Phils got a run back in the fourth as, with a man on third, and with one man out, Hunter Pence hits an RBI single, scoring Polanco, who had earlier doubled, making it a 3-1 Blue Jays’ lead. The Blue Jays got the run back in the fifth as, with two men out, Jose Bautista hits a solo home run, his fourth home run of the spring, giving the Blue Jays a 4-1 lead. The Blue Jays then took a 5-1 lead in the seventh as, with two men on, and with one man out, Encarnacion hits a sacrifice fly, scoring pinch runner Jonathan Diaz, who had earlier replaced Kelly Johnson, who had earlier walked, then moved up to second base on John Tolisan’s single, before stopping at third when pinch runner Luis Valbuena, who was pinch running for Escobar, who had started the inning off with a single, and then went to second base on Johnson’s walk and then to third on Tolisan’s single, loading up the bases, was tagged out at the plate by Tyler Knigge, 2-1, when he tried to score on a ball that got past Brian Schneider, while sending Tolisan, who had earlier singled, then stopped at second base when Valbuena tried to score, up to third base. The Phils got a run back in their half of the seventh as John Mayberry, Jr. hits a lead-off home run, his first home run of the spring, making it a 5-2 Blue Jays’ lead. The Blue Jays got that run back in the eighth as, with one man on, and with one man out, Jeff Mathis hits an RBI single, scoring Rajai Davis, who had earlier walked, giving the Blue Jays a 6-2 lead. The Blue Jays then made it an 8-2 lead as Valbuena hits a two-run home run, his second home run of the spring, scoring Mathis. The Phils got a run back in their half of the eighth as, with two men on, and with two men out, Juan Pierre hits an RBI single, knocking in Lou Montanez, who had earlier walked, then stopped at second base on Laynce Nix’s single, making it an 8-3 Blue Jays’ lead, while sending Nix, who had earlier singled, would stop at third base. The Phils then made it an 8-4 Blue Jays’ lead when Nix came home on a Scott Gracey’s wild pitch, while Pierre would move up to second base. Hector Luna then made it an 8-5 Blue Jays’ lead with an RBI single, scoring Pierre. That would end up being the final score as Pete Orr popped out to third for the final out.

Roy Halladay (1-2, 5.73) took the lost as he pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits, while he struck out three. Raul Valdes pitched two innings, giving up a run on a hit and a walk, while striking out three. David Herndon pitched two innings, giving up a run on three hits, while striking out four. Tyler Knigge pitched an inning, giving up a run on two hits and two walks. Jordan Whatcott pitched an inning, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk. Juan Sosa pitched a 1-2-3 inning, striking out two. Ricky Romero (2-0, 0.00) got the win as he pitched two 1-2-3 innings, striking out two. Carlos Villanueva collected his third spring hold as he pitched two innings, giving up a run on three hits, as he struck out three. Jason Frasor collected his first hold of the spring, as he threw a scoreless inning, giving up two hits. Clint Everts received his first hold of the spring as he pitched two innings, giving up a run on two hits. Scott Gracey threw two-thirds of an inning, as he gave up three runs on four hits and a walk. Robert Coello received his third save of the spring, as he pitched an inning and a third, as he struck out two.

The Phils had eleven hits in the game, with Hector Luna (Singles, RBI) and Carlos Ruiz (Single, Double) both leading the team with two hits apiece. Shane Victorino (Single), Placido Polanco (Double), Pete Orr (Single), Hunter Pence (Single, RBI), Laynce Nix (Single), John Mayberry, Jr. (Home Run, RBI) and Juan Pierre (Single, RBI), had the other seven Phils’ hits. The fifth Phil run came in on a wild pitch. The Phils also had a walk in the game.

The Phils (12-16) will play their last spring training game against the Braves (10-17) in Lake Buena Vista, Florida. Game time is 1:05 pm EDT.

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